HOBOKEN, N.J. — Eight years ago credit unions were hoping to get the jump on banks in the Internet world as a study showed that most banks still hadn't fully embraced the World Wide Web.

The front page story (CU Times, July 19, 2000) cited a study from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the TowerGroup that showed at the time of the10,000 or so FDIC-insured banks and thrifts, approximately 7,800 still did not have a Web site. Of the 2,200 banks that did have a Web site 1,100 had no more than what was called "brochure-ware." Of the top 100 banks, 777 offered no transaction functionality on their sites and 36 of them had no Web presence at all.

Data from Callahan and Associates said that 2,814 credit unions had a Web presence, and 691 of those Web sites offered Internet banking. Richard Bell, director of e-banking research at TowerGroup said that First Technology Credit Union had one of the best transactions sites out of all financials.